This collection of BBC horror dramas feature 13 tales -each about half an hour.  There are some famous authors - Gilman's Yellow Wallpaper is one of the stories.  Imelda Staunton is also one of the performers.

 

They are varied.  My favorite is one about a famous singer who may have been kidnapped.  Or was she?  There is also an interesting tale about a snow man, and the science fiction version of lifeboat was particularly good.

 

That said, the version of a Yellow Wallpaper was strange; it was lacking the force of the original story.  It was more the wallpaper is creepy as opposed to she is going mad because she can't use her mind.  And this made me a bit mad - because it is changing the nature and purpose of the story.  It is a horror story but not because of a supernatural element.  I have to say after listening to that adaption, my enjoyment of this collection went down.

 

 

Willa’s father- Matt  was marrying Mia who was one of America’s most famous actresses and known as America’s sweetheart. Mia had a son named Finn that would also be with them he was a couple months older than Willa and ready to graduate in five months just like Willa. Finn was hot and Mia felt attracted to him and resented Finn because he was so hot and unattainable. m even though she had a boyfriend named Damien. Willa’s father was a cinematographer. Mia’s mom had died when Mia was eleven and until a couple months ago it had been pretty much just Willa and Matt even if Matt was gone a lot with his job.  Finn felt an inexplicable pull come over him whenever he was near Willa. Finn excited Willa more than her boyfriend Damien did so they stayed away from each other as much as they could. Finn thought he was falling in love with Willa but fighting it every step of the way. Willa’s best friends were Himesh and Mariely since freshman year. Willa was the lead writer for the Senior Seminar - a web series. Damien is the male lead  and horrible as the love interest but Willa doesn’t know what to do about it. Then Willa decides she wants to break up with Damien as he isn’t what she really wants. She goes to Finn for advice and he kisses Willa and it is her very first kiss. They are now staying at home while their parents are on their honeymoon for the better part of the  next three weeks. Finn was excited that Willa had kissed him back.

I absolutely loved this story. The plot was absolutely great. I loved the way it was written. Willa going out with Damien to protect her heart. I felt bad the Willa was so scared of loving and being let down as she basically had been all her life.  I felt like i was there with Willa and Finn and everyone else. I loved how Mariely pointed out to Willa about why she went out with Damien and made Willa reexamine why she did the things she had. I can’t think of anything i didn’t like about this YA story. It was the best one I had read in a long time and my new favorite. I loved the characters and the ins and outs of this story and I highly recommend

Weddings, Crushes, and Other Dramas - Em... 2.5 stars

Review to follow

Weddings, Crushes, and Other Dramas - Em... OMG!
What a rollercoaster.
McKay had me eating out of her palm.
I actually expected way more dramas, with the title but also after the first installment. But actually there are dramas, but they not like DRAMAS. Rather Finn and Willa have more internal dramas than anything else. And that affected me way more than their battles or any other teenage drama McKay could have thrown at me.
Weddings, Crushes, and Other Dramas is in my opinion completely character driven.
I mean the plot kept me interested. But frankly the thing that I love about this book: character building. McKay did an amazing job. Not only did she totally endear Willa to me this time around. Finn got more depth and had plenty of character growth as well. Both MCs transform, enough to make a huge difference but not too much to feel fictitious. Their attraction always was huge, but in this installment it gets depth. Gone is the insta-lust. Friendship and genuine care take over instead. Don't misunderstand me, there is plenty of frustrating und fulfilled chemistry. In fact brace yourself for it. 75% of the book before there is some leeway. And I mean some... it takes basically the entire book to get ..somewhere.
The support cast is written well as well. In fact I much prefer each character in this book than in the last. It's like McKay went and added depth to each one of them. Even annoying shallow ones are more interesting for some reason.
As this is a multi-author series I love seeing characters from the other books written from a different POV. Let me just tell you, these authors do a brilliant job and connecting the story lines and the characters. Sure each couple is differently written, but the series feels so connected to each other, the characters are so well defined, that this feels like it was written by one mind. I am totally in awe of that! What a great collab! I imagine all the authors hanging out together, having coffee and plotting the next twist. I would love to know how they actually did pull this off for real.

Let's go back to the plot. As I said, there is a lot of waiting for it to happen here. Honestly I savored every moment. Not a minute to fast. The slow pace of the romance while frustrating was also brilliant.
My only little problem. The quick turnabout at the end. I mean the epilogue. I love it. Don't get me wrong. I do. But I was left with a gazillion questions. Also the Damien situation felt a bit hastened, but I didn't care that much.
The question is, are we left with a huge gap with loads of questions because the answers will be in another book? And the other thing I am wondering: Is there another Willa and Finn book?

Weddings, Crushes, and Other Dramas - Em... OMG!
What a rollercoaster.
McKay had me eating out of her palm.
I actually expected way more dramas, with the title but also after the first installment. But actually there are dramas, but they not like DRAMAS. Rather Finn and Willa have more internal dramas than anything else. And that affected me way more than their battles or any other teenage drama McKay could have thrown at me.
Weddings, Crushes, and Other Dramas is in my opinion completely character driven.
I mean the plot kept me interested. But frankly the thing that I love about this book: character building. McKay did an amazing job. Not only did she totally endear Willa to me this time around. Finn got more depth and had plenty of character growth as well. Both MCs transform, enough to make a huge difference but not too much to feel fictitious. Their attraction always was huge, but in this installment it gets depth. Gone is the insta-lust. Friendship and genuine care take over instead. Don't misunderstand me, there is plenty of frustrating und fulfilled chemistry. In fact brace yourself for it. 75% of the book before there is some leeway. And I mean some... it takes basically the entire book to get ..somewhere.
The support cast is written well as well. In fact I much prefer each character in this book than in the last. It's like McKay went and added depth to each one of them. Even annoying shallow ones are more interesting for some reason.
As this is a multi-author series I love seeing characters from the other books written from a different POV. Let me just tell you, these authors do a brilliant job and connecting the story lines and the characters. Sure each couple is differently written, but the series feels so connected to each other, the characters are so well defined, that this feels like it was written by one mind. I am totally in awe of that! What a great collab! I imagine all the authors hanging out together, having coffee and plotting the next twist. I would love to know how they actually did pull this off for real.

Let's go back to the plot. As I said, there is a lot of waiting for it to happen here. Honestly I savored every moment. Not a minute to fast. The slow pace of the romance while frustrating was also brilliant.
My only little problem. The quick turnabout at the end. I mean the epilogue. I love it. Don't get me wrong. I do. But I was left with a gazillion questions. Also the Damien situation felt a bit hastened, but I didn't care that much.
The question is, are we left with a huge gap with loads of questions because the answers will be in another book? And the other thing I am wondering: Is there another Willa and Finn book?